When to Send Out Christmas Cards

Sending out Christmas cards, especially ones made by hand, can be a time-consuming process. Thankfully, due to Tiny Prints, customized Christmas cards can be created and sent much faster, with the same unique personal touch as homemade cards. Nevertheless, that doesn't eliminate the need for Christmas card planning!

First, you need to know who is going to be on your mailing list. While some people choose to send holiday cards only to their family and closest friends, others like to send out as many Christmas cards as they can manage. Cards can be sent to distant relatives, acquaintances, classmates, and business associates.

Gathering your list will take anywhere between one day and one week, but if you have an existing list from last year, it might only take a few minutes to add new names for 2010. The ideal time to have your cards arrive is mid-December. This is the time when people will be on the lookout for cards in their mailbox, as most families prefer to open cards before Christmas or the New Year.

When planning to send Christmas cards, it's best to have your cards ready by Thanksgiving so that you can sign, seal, and stamp them within a week or two. If you're using an online mailing service, like the one Tiny Prints offers, you can wait a bit longer to send out your cards—but don't wait too long!

Keep in mind the distance that you will have to send the cards as well. For instance, if you are sending cards overseas by the US Postal Service, they could take more than two weeks to arrive.

The latest you should send out cards is the second week of December. If the postal service takes two weeks to deliver, your Christmas cards should arrive just in the nick of time.